Choose Your Words Carefully
by Altiria-Aty
Summary: Hizashi's in love with his soulmate, whose first words to him are a threat, and he's slightly concerned to know how he's going to piss off his soulmate enough that they threaten to kill him upon their first meeting. It becomes clear when Hizashi is sent on a mission to save a group of missing and tortured heroes as he learns precisely what context those words were said in.


Hizashi didn't have the… nicest words in the world, but he was reasonably sure there were worse ones out there… at least, he hoped there were. On the bright side, something more obscure would likely be worse! If he had something like 'good evening,' then his soulmate would be impossible to find! So he was lucky to have something so different. When he finally heard the words, he'd know instantly who his soulmate was. Who was he kidding, he'd take even a 'hi, nice to meet you,' over what he actually had any day.

"You alright, Hizashi?"

"No!" he whined, rolling across the floor with a groan that wasn't at all exaggerated. Nemuri huffed at his antics as he nudged her coffee table off its spot and gave a muffled wail into her carpet thankfully without using his quirk. Nemuri had replaced her windows too many times to do it again.

Sighing Nemuri looked back at her magazine, she ought to leave it be, she knew exactly why he was freaking out again. It was the same reason every single time, and she was growing tired of it. Hizashi's soulmate was, in her opinion, late. The man, whoever he was, owed everyone who knew Hizashi Yamada an apology for the nonsense his words had caused. Really though, Hizashi was her friend, and she knew she had to bring it up.

"What's wrong?"

And then act like it was a surprise.

"Neh, Nemuri. The person I'm in love with is trying to kill me, what does that say about me?" Hizashi blinked his adorably pathetic eyes up at her, and she groaned internally. She didn't understand how he loved his aggressive seeming soulmate. They hadn't even met! She knew if she asked, then Hizashi would croon about romance and destiny. All of which she didn't believe in, especially with her painfully boring words hidden under her sleeves.

Still, acting the part of supportive friend, the weekly sacrifice to the Hizashi angst, she said: "Have we escalated to love then? You don't even know the guy… and he's trying to kill you!"

"Well… maybe he's just sardonic!" Hizashi protested, rolling into a seated position. Crossed legged on the floor, he stared up at her, begging with his eyes to confirm his theory when no one but his soulmate actually could. "Or it's a joke, or… or… I'll accidentally defend him during a rescue mission, and I will be badgering him and then he-"

"Hizashi!" he jerked to a stop before he escalated into a full-blown panic attack and glanced toward Nemuri sitting with forced patience, her ears covered. Hizashi immediately ducked his head sheepish in apology, he hadn't realized he'd been getting louder. "First, you can't be in love with your soulmate without meeting them, it's not logical-"

"It is!" he gasped, scooting forward on his hands, eyes staring her down. "The gods themselves decided we were a fated pair, so even if he does want to kill me, I'm sure it's temporary."

"Then why are you grumbling to me about it." She snarked, rubbing a hand over her eyes. "You'll never understand why he said what he'll say until it happens, so stop worrying about it now, and worry about it then."

"But-"

"Nope! We're done!" she cast aside her magazine, "and to prove it, we're going shopping. We both need a distraction, and it's our day off. That never happens to us at the same time." Hizashi, seemingly agreeing with her point, stood on the spot and rushed to grab his things. Only for Nemuri's cell phone to go off a moment later with a very specific ring. They both paused as she glanced at the side-table and quickly answered. Her hero agency was calling her, but it was her day off… so why were they?

"Hello-"

They both jerked when Hizashi's phone also went off. He checked the caller ID and frowned deeply. His agency was calling as well, that was… not good. So much for time off and a relaxing day, something was happening, something big that required two off duty heroes to come in.

"Yes?" Hizashi answered as Nemuri went for the remote to turn on the news. If whatever was happening was big enough, it would show up there, though she really hoped it wouldn't. She did not need to deal with a mass casualty any time soon. Knocking out panicked victims so they could be rushed to the hospital was not something she enjoyed doing on her day off.

"Hello?" Nemuri answered as the news stationed repeated a story they both knew well. There seemed to be no leads, so she flicked the channel quickly to see if another station had something different. Unfortunately as she and Hizashi discovered, they were being called in, but they would be debriefed in the agency. Therefore they were left clueless.

_"And in recent news, another hero has gone missing… police are still looking into the-"_

"Let's go." Nemuri turned the TV off and grabbed her the box holding her uniform, she'd change at the agency. Hizashi followed her out; he'd grab his spare suit from the agency itself since he only had his civilian clothes on him. The two darted from the apartment and toward the elevator to the ground floor and toward their agency.

While waiting for it to arrive, Hizashi took a second to glance at his wrist before he covered it with his costume and sleeve. All heroes covered their words in some manner, none of them daring to allow a villain to see the crucial words that led them to their destined mate. Hizashi's jacket, in uniform or out, always covered his words just in case someone put two and two together and figured out his public persona. Truthfully he'd covered his words since he'd been a child avoiding the stigma that perhaps, just perhaps, his soulmate was a villain.

With the words he had, Hizashi wasn't surprised people thought so.

_"Touch me again, and I'll kill you."_

His lip slid into a frown before the elevator dinged, and he entered it at Nemuri's side. Absently he tugged his jacket down ensuring his words were hidden and tried to distract himself. He tried to have faith, the context had to be important. His soulmate… they'd love each other. Fate decreed it. Everything would be fine.

* * *

"These people have been missing for months." Announced one of the baby heroes from the other side of the room, they were just pointing out the obvious, and the senior heroes couldn't help glare or deadpan at the kid. It was a measure of desperation and determination that the baby heroes were even present. For they were coming but would be matched with senior heroes to control them. Unfortunately, no one really had the time to teach them proper etiquette on this large scale mission. And considering some were still in school, well, things could go badly.

Hizashi had been given two of the baby heroes, and it made him nervous. The baby heroes didn't have sensitivity training, and it was entirely possible, and likely, that the baby heroes would set someone off. Someone who could and would defend themselves brutally considering the situation.

Listening carefully, Hizashi stood at Nemuri's side and kept his eyes on his paperwork, memorizing everything necessary for this mission. His stomach twisted as he took in the information. Six months was the estimated time that the villains had been working under their very noses, and it was only a guess. It took a long time for anyone to notice that heroes were going missing off the streets. The targets were all underground heroes, heroes that had no family or apparent ties to the public who could vanish for several months without anyone noticing. Truthfully, eight were guessed to have been taken before the villains took the wrong target.

Hizashi flipped to the next page and glanced up at Ms. Joke, who was glaring into space. For once she wasn't cracking jokes, she stood solemn and harsh in a corner waiting for them to get moving. Ms. Joke had an unlikely friendship with one of the missing heroes; she confessed she didn't see the hero often and that he tended to avoid her. But he never failed to answer her if she texted him, and upon visiting his rather barren apartment, she realized something was wrong. Ms. Joke claimed that as annoyed as the man was of her, he always responded in a timely manner. In this case, it helped them discover the truth.

The villains took the wrong man, and the hunt for the villains and mission heroes began two months previous. Now it seemed someone had succeeded at getting news.

Flipping the page, Hizashi took in the photos of the missing heroes locating Ms. Joke's friend. He was glowering into the camera, scowling at having his picture taken. His quirk was reported as 'erasure' to match his hero name. He hummed quietly; it wasn't the time for it, but… he was attractive, and Hizashi could appreciate it.

Hizashi returned focus to the mission parameters. To locate the heroes, a kid just out of school had volunteered to act as bait, one of Eraserhead's students Hizashi learned. The kid acting the part of an underground hero wandered the streets with a tracker and had finally gotten snatched. Now they knew where the others were kept, now it was time to move in. Therefore, the mission was simple. Rescue the heroes, arrest the villains.

Though no mission actually worked out that way, especially one so delicate as this. After all, these weren't civilians they were rescuing, they were heroes. Heroes that had been overpowered to be captured. Yes, they had the top heroes on this mission, but Hizashi couldn't help but feel unsettled, and it seemed he wasn't the only one.

"Ready?" Nemuri asked him, shifting on her feet with a nervous twitch.

"Let's do this." Hizashi forced calm to his vocal cords.

"Move out."

He moved.

* * *

Hizashi moved through the halls with two of the baby heroes a step behind him. He kept his awareness up, and his footsteps quiet despite how loudly the baby heroes were walking.

He'd been right when he thought the mission would be a disaster for disaster had occurred almost immediately upon arrival. They were attacked immediately by villains that could keep All Might and Endeavor distracted, which was alarming enough. While the two top heroes fought, the rest of the group had moved on, attempting to complete the rescue before pulling back if that was what they needed to do. Only for them to realize the villain base was a huge trap. Oh, the prisoners were likely still there, but one of the villains' had a maze quirk.

Suddenly the entire group was separated, tossed into an endless maze with more traps than Hizashi had ever seen. He was stuck with his two baby heroes only because when the floor dropped out from underneath him, Hizashi managed to grab them. Now they were lost, their only benefit being the fact that their communication wasn't dead. He could still talk to the team at large and them to him.

_"This is something out of that movie, oh, what was it called?"_ spoke up one of the heroes Hizashi didn't know the name of.

_"Jigsaw."_ Deadpanned the voice of Gang Orca.

_"Yeah, that's the one! Except a little less bloody."_

_"Let's not jinx us shall we Kitsune?"_

_"I wasn't!"_

_"Can we keep the communications closed unless we need something, please."_

Several sighs followed the last comment, then a slightly pitched voice saying.

_"Hey, who's good at riddles?"_

_"What did I just say."_

"Me!" Hizashi couldn't resist saying at the same time as Ms. Joke. His baby heroes glanced at him as they stopped in a large, suspiciously empty room.

_"But I do need something!"_ the voice protested, _"this animal thing won't let me through unless I answer a riddle!"_

_"Oh, tell it to me!"_ Joke excitedly demanded while Hizashi fell silent as he held out a hand to stall the baby heroes.

"Present Mic, Sir?" the girl asked.

"Move slowly, this is a trap." He said, stepping forward cautiously. True enough, the moment all three were inside the room, the door behind them snapped closed. The boy baby hero flinched frightened while the girl smirked. There was a reason she was a hero, and this was almost her perfect environment.

"To leave, you must figure out the riddle and escape." Said a voice in the ceiling and Hizashi scowled at it. The villain was toying with them. He suspected there was no way out of the room, and even if there was, they'd end up wandering forever, never to rescue the prisoners. From what the other heroes were reporting that seemed to be accurate. They were stuck on endless walk-ways, mirror rooms without exit, rooms without doors, and no one was progressing even if Ms. Joke did know the answer to the riddle.

"What's the question though?" The baby hero boy whined since the door was bare.

"Doesn't matter." The girl stated striding toward the single door, and Hizashi felt himself smile.

"Yes! Baby hero! Open it up!"

She rounded on him furiously, the cloak that came with her uniform swinging: "I said my name was Locket!" Hizashi only smiled at her as she turned toward her door and planted her hands on it. A whirl sounded as her quirk activated before opening despite the invisible quirk user attempting to keep it closed. With ease and without figuring out the riddle, they got through to the next room.

Locket, the baby hero had a quirk called 'unlock' which was rather self-explanatory. She could open and unlock anything, which included computer systems. With such a quirk she could have been a powerful villain able to hack and open bank accounts, national security codes, and just about anything you could think about without effort. People thought she'd likely end up a villain as well, and might have if not for her nurse and fire-fighter parents.

So together, they stepped forward and continued moving without pause. Endless hallways ended in a single touch of the wall and a door opening up beside them. Passwords entered themselves, riddles ended, mazes shortened. Locket marched right on through positively bouncing in place because of how helpful she was on her very first mission. While the best of the best were trapped, she escorted Hizashi and her partner Sunstreaker right through the endless maze to a single ominous looking door.

Upon spotting it, Hizashi knew something was different about it. Calmly he reported what he was doing over the coms, then nodded to Locket, who stepped forward and opened it. Finally, after what seemed like hours wandering the maze, they did not run into a trap.

"Oh god." Locket recoiled hand covering her mouth in an attempt to stop the smell. Beside her, the other baby hero recoiled and retreated with a whimper. Hizashi did neither. The only sign he was bothered was the tightening of his hands.

Stepping forward into the darkness Hizashi reached up and reported: "Team Mic has found the prisoners."

It was a gruesome sight. It was like a scene from a show Hizashi had watched in the past. A murder drama where the main character had his girlfriend captured, and he'd torn apart the city looking for her. Eventually, he'd found her in some basement tortured without an inch of her life and had rescued her. Nemuri had been upset but found the scene relatively sweet when they'd been reunited. Hizashi suspected because it had been fake, everything about it fake.

This wasn't fake.

Men and women were chained up along the walls blindfolded, muzzled, and cut off from their senses. Blood drenched the walls. Experimentation in torture methods was clear from the rips on some arms, the nails pulled off others, the whip marks on a nearby man. It was a horror scene, and the smell- Hizashi would never, for the rest of his life, forget that smell. However, as much as he wanted to vomit like Locket, he did not dare. This wasn't about him, this was about them and getting them to safety. It was about making the victims feel safe to the best of their ability. Hizashi held himself together when baby hero two, the moron flew forward like the damned novice he was.

The intent to help was there, but the execution- what an idiot!

Hizashi surged forward, placing himself between the victims and the kid with a firmly said: "Stop!"

The kid ignoring him, plowing full speed forward with an enhancement quirk that sparked yellow- and Hizashi staggered backward. His back pressed against the man, the blinded hero nearest to him. The moment his jacket connected with the man hanging there, the man exploded with violence. It didn't seem to matter that he was chained up, blindfolded, and covered in enough filth to disguise his identity. He was defending himself from an unknown as anyone would.

Hizashi swore as a foot connected with his kidney, and despite the chains he wore, the man still managed to drop Hizashi in a single brutal strike. Before he snarled the words: "Touch me again, and I'll kill you."

Wheezing in shock, Hizashi tried to regain his breath as the kid retreated finally stopping as he realized what he'd caused in his haste. Hizashi grimaced pushing off from the ground as the underground hero continued to struggle and swear. All the while, Hizashi's fantasies of this meeting, this moment, rearranged itself to the truth. A second later, he surged to his feet, attempting to fix what the kid and he screwed up.

Hands waving uselessly, Hizashi cried: "No! I'm here to help you, I'm not one of them." This was his soulmate, his soulmate that had been tortured by villains for months while Hizashi had been clueless. He teetered dangerously between pure rage over this fact and utter despair as he desired so badly to protect, to save. The man he loved, god Hizashi didn't even know which one of the missing people this was.

At the same time, his soulmate stilled as if Hizashi had dumped ice water on him. His face sought for him, eyes hidden by the blindfold. While his hands flexed above him chained down by the shackles, by the metal holding him captive. Hope, hope was dangerous, but hope was still there.

"…Pro hero number." He requested his throat sounding like grating rocks. It was a trick, it had to be a trick-

Hizashi spat the numbers out instantly, the set he'd memorized years ago when his sensei had suggested it. It was protocol in some situations, that if you were suspicious of a hero appearing before you to share numbers because the numbers were specific and coded. Recognizing the numbers Hizashi's soulmate sagged on his chains slightly, trying to have faith that finally they were being rescued.

"Can I touch you?" Hizahi requested next, gave warning and the opportunity to say no. He didn't know if the hero would be offended, some were when it came to this situation. That they'd need the abuse questions drilled into them. But Hizashi did it anyway because it was protocol, and he had been abused. He kept up his training even if he wanted nothing more than to touch, to help.

The man was a hero, and he, like Hizashi, knew precisely why Hizashi was asking. So he skipped past the nod and answered a firm verbal: "Yes."

Hizashi needed no further prompting, he reached forward and slid the blindfold carefully down his soulmates face. He met with blood-red eyes and instantly realized who this was. Eraserhead, his soulmate, was Eraserhead.

Aizawa took in Hizashi and the baby heroes a moment. He accepted then that this was a real rescue, and the red bled out of his eyes. He allowed himself a small measure of relief even as he tried not to think about the words he'd just heard and who the blond before him was. His soulmate… no, he wasn't in the right place or mind frame to even begin thinking about it. Not here, not then.

"Locket." Hizashi said, "get him down."

"Yes, sir." Locket moved forward, copying what she'd seen Hizashi do. She moved slowly, purposely, and though she didn't have the sensitivity training, she could still learn how it was done. Hizashi gave her an approving nod seeing the effort. She'd make a good hero when she graduated, she adapted quickly.

"Baby hero two." Hizashi turned to the boy who didn't even protest the name so ashamed as he was. The kid glanced up his head ducked under his mask. "Come, watch what I do and copy."

"Yes sir… sorry sir."

As he moved to the next prisoner who was clearly listening and aware of what was happening, he gave a short report to the team. They still had a lot of work to do. They still had to escape the maze with a dozen underground heroes who could barely walk. So Hizashi didn't allow himself to relax as the prisoners did now that rescue was in reach. He focused on his mission and tried not to focus on the way his wrist burned and demanded his attention. Demanded he not leave his soulmate for a moment. He was resisting his very soul, and every instinct he had to continue with the mission. To leave his soulmate in Locket's hand so he could free and calm the other victims.

It stretched Hizashi to the brink to do it, and the moment the prisoners were released, he was at his soulmate's side. He stood by the door, pretending it was on purpose, that they would meet there collectively for their next step. Pretending it had nothing to do with his intense desire to have physical comfort with the man sitting pressed against the wall beside the door.

Hizashi pressed his leg against Aizawa's body, leather against bare skin that was likely ill-advised but… he couldn't stop himself, and it seemed Aizawa was in a similar position. For despite the open wounds there, he too was pressing his body into Hizashi's leg while trying to pretend nothing was happening between them. After all, soulmates, especially for heroes, was a closely guarded secret, and they were in enemy territory.

"What next, sir?" Locket asked once she and baby hero two had all the prisoners moved in close.

Hizashi waited a moment, listening to the coms. Some heroes had run into villains, but the vast majority of them were still trapped. Some, like Endeavor and All Might, had just decided to start busting through walls which worked to a degree. Others that couldn't do that like Ms. Joke had simply, temporarily given up moving. All in all, the only one capable of actual motion was Locket and his team.

Waiting was possible, waiting for the stronger of their number to finally arrive. But that ran the possibility of an attack. But moving so many injured with just the three of them, that would be near impossible. So, perhaps Hizashi could give a sign to All Might and Endeavor where they were to shorten the time it took them to break through the maze.

"Cover your ears, all of you." He requested. He watched as they did, one by one, to the best of their ability. Then he turned his back and pressed a hand to his com relaying his plan. As he did, heroes all around the maze quickly covered their ears. All but All Might and Endeavor. Then, after a count of five, Hizashi opened his mouth and screamed.

The noise bounced all the walls, shook the maze, and had the villains present swearing, covering their ears and recoiling from the sheer volume. Deep in the labyrinth, different heroes changed directions using the sound to locate where precisely the prisoners were being kept at Present Mic's side. All Might wasted not a second and started to punch east and downward. Endeavor at the same time headed up and west melting right through the walls.

While as Hizashi screamed, Aizawa Shouta glanced up, finally placing the identity of his soulmate. Hands over his ears, Shouta knew only one hero with a quirk like that. The teacher at UA and radio show host, Present Mic.

A crashed sounded a Hizashi cut off the volume as a cheery voice yelled a loud: "I AM HERE!"

Of course, plenty would be done to finish their mission. All Might would be required to make half a dozen trips to escort the victims out of the villain base. While Locket would make more trips than him to find and reclaim the lost heroes still trapped be the villain with the maze quirk, until the man was finally caught by Endeavor. But at the end of the night, to the relief of everyone involved, no lives were lost, and the underground heroes would heal.

Hizashi, however, found it difficult to separate from his other half as the man was rushed to the hospital. He was forced to complete his mission, forced to fill in his report, and stay with Locket because he was responsible for her. Forced to act normal when his soulmate was rushed away from him-

"Mic, you alright?" Nemuri asked as he stood beside the ambulance as flashing red and blue lit up his hair cutting through the darkness of the night.

Because it was Nemuri. Or perhaps because of how tense he was feeling at the growing distance between him and his newly found other half Hizashi found himself saying: "I was right."

"Right?" she asked as she watched Endeavor rip down a massive section of the maze in sheer fury.

"He didn't want to actually kill me."

There was a moment of silence, two, then Nemuri realized exactly what he was saying. Wide-eyed, she looked at him, his wrist, then at the tense way he stood while doing everything in his power to resist bolting from the spot to the hospital. "He was- oh… you met… oh." She shot a look at the maze, then the ambulance, then back to him.

"Go, I got the kid."

Hizashi gave her a single look, a single chance for her to back out. The moment she didn't take it, he bolted unable to resist the burning nudge from his soulmate, demanding he return to his his side. He entered the hospital in the shortest time it took any hero to run from the villains base to the building and settled in to wait. The victims were all hospitalized, and he wasn't family. So his wait would be a long one.

But at least he was there.

And Hizashi promised himself he always would be.

* * *

Shouta woke with a start. Two months he'd been awoken brutally, violently, and was used to striking out at the villains that dared. But this time, finally, he had nothing to attack. Nothing to defend himself against.

Exhaling in relief as he took in the hospital room, the bandages covering his body, and the steady noises of the machines attached to him, Shouta forced himself to relax. He'd been saved. They had all been saved.

He'd suspected they would be the moment the kid showed up. His student that had stared down the villains that took him right in the eyes and sneered unafraid of what might happened. The others and the villains had assumed it was his youth that caused that, the moronic daring of someone unafraid of death. But Shouta knew better; he'd taught the kid and knew the kid, unlike all the others captured, was not an underground hero and had no intention of becoming one.

The kid was a plant, a mole, he was proof that someone had noticed and was trying to find them.

And someone had come… someone- his soul mate.

_"No! I'm here to help you, I'm not one of them."_

The words on his wrist, the ominous words that had Shouta defensive of people for years because why would he need help and who were they. Now he knew. They were villains, and his helper was a hero, Present Mic.

Shouta grunted as his wrist gave a steady throb; with his free hand, he pressed his fingers firmly into the skin where his words lay trying to shove back the burn. Soulmates. He'd finally found his and now his soul demanded he remain close to them. His very soul called for it because he was injured and they would defend him, protect him. His soul didn't seem to care that he was already safe, that no one would hurt him in the hospital, and if someone tried, it would be Shouta to stop them. His soul wanted its other half; it wanted to be safe.

He wondered if Present Mic had spoken to anyone about the connection they'd made. There were protocols to follow if it did occur, especially on a mission. Still, Present Mic hadn't said anything in that place. Shouta agreed with it, there were ears everywhere and they were both heroes. Their identity and their soulmates were secret for a reason. So, it was likely Mic hadn't said anything about the words which explained why he wasn't there. For if the hospital knew, then he'd be allowed to remain at Shouta's side if only to disperse the stress building in his soul at that very moment.

Soulmates were encouraged to remain at the hospital with their other halves, encouraged to be present because the body always healed better when soulmates were close. So it Present Mic wasn't here, it was because the hospital didn't know. Or… Mic did not want him.

What had Shouta's words been… he didn't remember, it had to have been aggressive, defensive. Had he turned his soulmate off before he'd even met them? Shouta grit his teeth against the idea and felt the beep of his heart machine thud quicker and quicker as his soul protested the idea. No. He hadn't done it, Present Mic had been protecting them by keeping the secret. There was a reason-

"Aizawa-san, please calm down. Take a breath!" there was a nurse.

He had to calm down, had to breathe. He was capable of that, Shouta could do it, but apparently, his soul and the mark on his wrist had other ideas. It refused to let him calm himself or to allow the nurse so- he was going to hyperventilate. He was going to pass out-

"Present Mic." He snarled the words out by force.

"What?" the nurse recoiled, and he twisted his gaze to her, unaware his eyes were blood-red with his quirk.

"Present Mic… I need him. Now."

"Of- of course!" she suddenly pulled away and bolted from the room. She left Shouta there hunched over gasping. It felt like ages before she returned, hours upon hours where he could only just get in enough air. When suddenly hands cupped his face and everything stopped. In an instant, there was no reason to panic, no reason he couldn't take in air. Shouta cursed it all, cursed that his mark had caused him so much dread for no reason.

A bare hand slipped behind his neck, cupping his head protectively on the vulnerable spot. While the other pressed over his wrist, right over the words. Shouta calmed his body, still adjusting to the panic attack even as he glanced up through his hair to his soulmate. As he focused, he heard the nurse speaking, advising Present Mic - god he didn't even know the man's name - where to touch and what to do. And Mic nodded along utterly focused eyes intent on Shouta's.

"I'm fine," he grunted.

"Indeed," snapped the aged woman, "and you would have been the entire time if you'd informed me you were bonded."

Mic gave a sheepish laugh and said: "it's a new development." Which did nothing to calm the woman's ire. She snapped at Mic and him equally before stating she was going to get a doctor to properly look Shouta over. It gave an excuse to give them a moment of alone time. A kindness even if it was under false pretenses.

Shouta wasn't sure what to say or where to begin as he looked up at his soulmate. A name would be a decent start. "Aizawa Shouta." He introduced himself.

"Hizashi Yamada." Present Mic answered return looking as though he could have remained in his position for the rest of his life. One hand on Shouta's mark, the other at his neck, kneeling half on his hospital bed with their foreheads almost touching.

"What did I say? Your words… what were they?"

"You don't remember?" Hizashi looked slightly surprised and a bit nervous as he slowly pulled back, releasing his grip on Shouta's neck, but not his wrist. Shouta to the question shook his head, hair swinging. "Uh… you can look if you want." Moving slightly, Hizashi bared his wrist to Shouta, allowing him to pull the jacket up and see the mark there. And he winced.

"Sorry."

Hizashi gave him a grin as if it didn't matter that his soulmate had threatened to kill him. And to Hizashi it didn't, he had loved Shouta from the moment he knew what a soulmate was and the words hadn't changed that. In fact, he was simply relieved that the man hadn't actually done it as he'd hoped.

"It's fine."

Shouta hesitated, grasping for a topic. Something to say, something to do and spat the first thing that came to mind. Which finally allowed them both to relax and to get over the first hump of awkwardness.

"Any deaths?" Shouta asked, eventually deciding on a topic.

"No." Hizashi answered, relaxing and sitting on the end of the bed, "everyone got out just fine, including the kid." Shouta's student.

"He was a plant." He half asked even if he had guessed the answer.

"Yup! Kid did good, you should have seen him when we got you all out. The kid wanted to take on the entire base full of villains alone!" they relaxed in conversation, breathed more natural now that they were together. They rested in the presence of each other and stared, wrists bare and acting on instinct to tell them where to go from that moment. In the end, they'd figure it out. They were destined to be together to connect in some way, no matter the circumstances. And while uncertainty temporarily lingered as their relationship first began, they both knew things would turn out. As long as they put the effort in.


End file.
